'I learnt to overcome a lot of obstacles'

Young actor Varun Dhawan is on a roll – from playing the happy-go-lucky ‘Humpty’ in ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ to an anguished ‘Raghu’ in ‘Badlapur’, Varun has come a long way. According to him, this exciting cinematic endeavour has been an experience that he will cherish throughout his life.

Varun was recently in the City to promote ‘Badlapur’ and shared his experiences in the industry.

‘Badlapur’ can be called his ‘lucky break’ as he termed his role in the movie his “dream role”. “I am lucky that such a role came to me as it was here that I learnt to overcome a lot of obstacles by playing such a difficult character. It was a blessing to work with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, from whom I learnt a lot.”

He calls Bengaluru a City that is full of life and rich experiences. “I find the crowd here very educated in all spheres of life, be it technology, music or movies. The City is also young and rooted to culture. So Bengaluru always holds a special place in my heart. I feel connected to Bengalureans.”

Recalling his beginnings, Varun says that Humpty and Raghu are two extremely different characters. “Poles apart,” he smiles. “Humpty is someone you would definitely want to meet in real-life but Raghu is someone you would run away from but each role was great in its own way.”  

In ‘Badlapur’, he plays the role of a hero who has lost someone very dear to him and says that he worked hard on portraying a grieved, angry look with different shades of emotions, throughout the film. Varun chose this role mainly because he wanted to challenge himself and show a different side of his character to the audience.

When asked if Varun has let go of romantic comedies and will now be seen only in action-oriented movies, he says that he doesn’t want to be branded into any category. “The idea to work in this movie came up because I wanted to show a different side of myself and play a different kind of character. I hope that when the viewers watch this film, they feel I am capable of working in both kinds of movies.”

Varun feels that the movie brings out the power of silence that resides within humanity. “I feel people should watch this movie as they will realise that silence speaks a thousand words. This movie asks the question whether revenge (‘badla’) is better or forgiveness is better.”

In his next film ‘ABCD 2’, the actor portrays a fun-loving Mumbaiker opposite Shraddha Kapoor.